The Flying Burrito Brothers / Sierra with Mickey McGee (far right)
We just learned that drummer / singer / songwriter William Michael "Mickey" McGee (born October 25, 1947) died of complications from COVID-19 on July 20, 2020.
He was a member of The Flying Burrito Brothers in and out from 1975 to 1981, and appears on the 1977 LP they released under the name “Sierra”.
He was also a member of the “reunion” Swampwater recording sessions in 1979, replacing original drummer Stan Pratt. These recordings were released in 1987 only on the "Reunion" LP.
He also worked for The Burrito Brothers, Bobby Gentry, Linda Ronstadt, Juice Newton, Jim Ringer, Blue Steel, Maureen McGovern, Keith Moon, Ricky Nelson, Jackson Browne, John David Souther, Warren Zevon, Chris Darrow and more.
Our regular correspondent Jean-Pierre Morisset wrote to all 5 surviving members of The Byrds to ask for their comments about Johnny Rogan's passing.
Here are their answers:
John York - "He was a wonderful man. Deep intelligence and sensitivity made him unique in the world of music journalists. And a good friend to us all."
Gene Parsons - "Sadly another one of the ‘old guard’ gone missing in action."
Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hilman
didn't reply.
Although he was the drummer for The Byrds' groundbreaking "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" LP, Kevin Kelley is often underrated as a Byrds member. So items about him are rather rare.
Here's a personal handwritten letter he sent on June 1, 1986 to our regular contributor Jean-Pierre Morisset.
Our regular correspondent David E. sent us these two ads from his collection. Many thanks to him.
He wrote:
"Here's a couple Byrds ads I came across in my collection recently I had forgotten about. The 1969 "Manhattan " show never happened: it was cancelled and later rescheduled."
We haven't checked yet, but the front page makes us think that this is a mix of performances, not only by The Byrds, but also by Gene Clark's various "Byrds Tribute" lineups and by Michael Clarke's Byrds and later The Byrds Celebration. I mean:
All written / recorded (1964-1973) by Byrds, incl. some songs members wrote / performed before joining Byrds; excl.bootlegs, MP3's, DVD's, promos (unless sold in retail outlets) & unreleased recordings.
Margot Cotten from France - she plays all the instruments and sings most of the voices...
"Margot Cotten is the only French girl who can actually play Americana without blushing. Playing drums, guitars and keys, she is a multi-talented singer-songwriter. Make sure to watch her new videos on Sundays. She plays covers by Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Elton John, Cat Stevens, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Neil Young, etc... as well as her own material."
On a chance meeting several years ago in a CD shop (you know, back when folks bought music in stores) Carl Sweigert and Mike Dialesandro struck up a conversation about Gram Parsons, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and the early days of what came to be the Country Rock genre. They agreed then and there that at some point they should get together and play some of this music with which they both felt a connection.
And play that music they did, in many a late night jam session, with some other musicians they knew, and even in front of an audience or two; but never quite in the fashion they had envisioned that day in the record store.
Fast forward to late 2010 when Carl and Mike called on an old friend, Dave Greenwood, to add a second vocal and guitar to the mix. After some good rehearsals raised the trio's expectations for the project, all that was needed was a great rhythm section. Two long time Northeast Ohio musicians were added: John Gill on drums and Mike McClosky on bass and The Last of the Red Hot Burritos were complete.
The band's show is a bit of a history lesson in the birth of country rock, from pure country stalwarts like Merle and Buck, to the aforementioned Parsons projects, to more modern artists who benefited from the pioneering efforts of those early bands. It's fun, it's up tempo, and it's great music that you don't get to hear that often.
